


Life Happens

by Tessa_Harrison



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, pot exchange 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1979766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tessa_Harrison/pseuds/Tessa_Harrison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes life likes to throw curveballs at you. This is the story of how the past refused to stay in the past. A chance encounter with a former lover can change the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rhapsie](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Rhapsie).



> Written in the 2014 PoT Exchange on lj.

Looking at his watch, Shishido Ryou swore. His mother was going to kill him. The time was had completely gotten away from him and he had already been late as it was. Now it was just going to be a desperate attempt to minimize the lateness as much as he could. It didn't matter though. He already knew he was going to get an earful from her. Even worse, it was probably going to be in front of Shun. How lame would that be? He sighed, resting his cheek against the cool glass of the train's window. No need to stress out about it now. Still, it was a relief when he saw his stop.

“I'm here,” he called out, kicking his shoes off. A blur of green and brown came running towards him. Sheer reflex allowed him to catch Shun, picking the boy up to keep from getting knocked back. “Sorry,” he mouthed to his mother. She was just standing there, watching them. He couldn't read her expression and that was the scary part. “Lost track of time.”

Shun was speaking a mile a minute, talking about his day. Experience had taught Shishido how to tune the boy out, nodding at all the appropriate moments without actually having to pay attention. It wasn't something he actively tried to do but it was a necessary evil at times. “Any issues?” He asked, still just mouthing the words to keep up the ruse of listening to Shun.

His mother shook her head. When Shun paused, she seized the moment. “I have some leftovers for you. Shun even helped.”

The little boy nodded. “Grandma let me stir.” He grinned, obviously proud of the fact. “And Grandpa said it was super good.”

“I guess I should try some then, shouldn't I?” Shishido asked as he set the boy down. Shun nodded enthusiastically.

“Why don't you get a bowl and cup out?” He heard his mother suggest as the two walked towards the kitchen. Hanging up his jacket, Shishido realized he'd left his shoes in a mess. No need to earn an additional lecture. He took a moment to straighten his things up, tennis bag sitting in its spot just inside the door. The same place it had always gone. Sometimes it felt like nothing had change and he was still a teenager living at home with his parents. But things were definitely not the same. The pair of bright blue kid's sneakers, the little blue jacket, and Shun himself were all evidence that life was not the same. As familiar as this house was, all the little reminders added up to one thing: Shishido Ryou was most definitely not a teenager anymore.

Shun was practically bouncing in his chair. He had a bowl and cup waiting on the table for Shishido. Every few moments, he'd shoot a glance over at the pot still sitting on the stove.

“I'm sure that it's still warm,” Shishido's mother assured. Turning to her youngest son, she added, “if not, please let me know so I can heat it up for you.”

“I'm not a kid anymore,” Shishido protested as he helped himself to the soup.

His mother looked at Shun fondly. “I should hope not.” She sighed softly and smiled at the child. “Why don't you gather your things and say goodbye to your grandfather while I talk to your father?”

Shishido paled, not liking the sound of that. He almost asked his son to stay but the look in his mother's eyes stopped that thought in its tracks. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, if this was like any of the other times she wanted to have one of these talks then he really did not want his son around. Shun might get the wrong idea. The boy looked at Shishido. When Shishido nodded that it was okay, the boy scurried off.

“My friend,” his mother started. It took all his willpower to not groan, already knowing where this was going. “-of a person who gives music lessons.”

Or not. Shishido stared at his mother, not fulling comprehending what he'd just heard. “You're not setting me up?” He asked, voice clearly expressing his disbelief. That was how this conversation always went and had gone for the past few years. Had his mother finally decided to drop the whole topic of marriage? Halle-freaking-lujah. 

“Not this time though if you want...” She gave a sweet smile that hid her evil. It was terrifying.

“So, music lessons,” Shishido quickly tried to shift the subject back to a far safer topic.

She nodded. “My friend, Sasuwa-chan, you remember her, don't you? She's the one who had the daughter your brother dated a couple of years in high school.”

“Vaguely,” Shishido replied, hoping his mother wasn't about to switch the topic back into dangerous marriage talk. “What about her?”

“Her niece recently started taking piano lessons from a new teacher. She absolutely loves going and Sasuwa-chan says the girl's playing has increased dramatically since starting,” his mother went on.

Shishido took a bite, thinking about it. Shun had been asking to learn how to play an instrument. It was strange. Where his son had gotten the musical inclinations, Shishido had no clue. Even worse, his son seemed to have no interest in sports. “If the teacher's so good, how do you know there's any free slots for new students?”

“That's the best part,” his mother replied. “Apparently he attended a university in the south and just moved back. He's looking for new students.”

Promising. Shishido gave a little nod. “Can you call and set it up for me?” His work hours were sometimes crazy and setting up appointments wasn't exactly his strong suit to begin with.

“I already did.” His mother wore a smug smile. “Shun's first lesson is Friday after school.”

~*~*~

Friday quickly appeared. Shishido watched as kids left Shun's elementary, often going off in small, overly excited groups. They were all chattering happily. A couple of boys were talking about some kanji character they'd learned that looked neat. He spotted his son and stood off to the side, waiting to be noticed. It took a few moments but the grin on Shun's face made picking him up worth the trip.

“No going to Grandma's today?” The boy asked as he ran over.

“Not today,” Shishido confirmed, shaking his head. “Remember how you keep asking to learn to play an instrument?” Shun nodded. It was cute how the boy didn't seem to catch on. Shishido didn't leave it a mystery for long. “Grandma found someone who teaches piano. You're going to have your first lesson today.”

The boy's eyes widened in surprise and delight. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Shishido answered. “It'll be hard though and take a lot of practice to get good.” He knew his kid wasn't going to sit down and be this musical prodigy. Or even if he was, he knew the kid would start out as crap. He'd already decided he wouldn't let Shun quit for at least a month. After a month, if his son wanted to keep going he could but a month would also be long enough to see if this was just some passing whim as children often had.

“Like Dad and tennis?”

The man chuckled. “Yes, just like me and tennis. It's taken me years to get where I am now but when I started-”

“You were bad?” Shun interrupted, grinning.

“Absolutely horrible.” Thankfully those days were far, far behind him. As they continued towards their destination, Shishido couldn't help but notice they'd entered a rather nice neighborhood. Something about it seemed familiar but Shishido couldn't place from where. He'd probably had a classmate who'd lived nearby or something. It was only when he saw the nameplate on the traditional looking house that he realized why it all looked familiar. He swallowed hard. How many times had he come to this house when he was younger? A large part of him wanted to run away, to stop this from ever happening. He couldn't though. The expression on Shun's face was testament to that. Sighing, Shishido knew this was going to be awkward but he had to do it for his son.

“Want to ring the bell?” Shishido forced the words out. He tried to smile and it was apparently able to hide his discomfort because his son was grinning. Picking his son up so the boy could reach, Shishido's heart started beating hard enough he was sure he was going to have broken ribs.

He already knew who was going to open the door. He'd realized what was going to happen the moment he'd seen that name. All of that did not make it any less of a surprise when Ohtori Choutarou opened the door to greet them. For a moment, Choutarou didn't seem to recognize him but the moment the younger man did, Shishido could see it in Choutarou's eyes.

“Say hi, Shun,” Shishido prompted, setting his son down. It was hard to speak when his whole system felt on the verge of shutting down. Besides, someone needed to break the awkward silence that had descended immediately. At the words, Choutarou's gaze traveled down to the small boy at Shishido's side. The shock was written all over Choutarou's face. He was trying to hide it but then, well, he'd always been horrible at hiding his emotions from Shishido. The fact that Choutarou was openly staring and looking between the two only made it worse. Shishido could understand. His son took after him in the looks department though he'd inherited his mother's black hair and nose.

Choutarou recovered. He looked at the boy, giving Shun a friendly smile. “Hello Shishido-kun. My name's Ohtori-sensei. I heard you wanted to learn how to play piano. Is that right?”

It was Shun's turn to stare. “How'd you know my name?”

Choutarou glanced at Shishido, obviously looking for help. “We went to school together,” Shishido decided to answer. It was true. They'd gone to Hyotei together for years and it was the least complicated truth. “Chou-Ohtori-sensei was...” Crap, now what? And geez, had he really almost slipped into that old habit? It'd been years since he'd seen Choutarou and they definitely hadn't parted on good enough terms for Shishido to slip back into calling him by his given name.

“We played tennis together,” Choutarou finished.

Shun wrinkled his nose. “I don't like tennis,” he declared. It wasn't the first time and Shishido doubted it'd be the last. “Can you teach me now? 'Cause Dad says it'll take lotsa work to get good and so I wanna start now.”

“Go ahead,” Shishido told the other two. Mentally he wasn't sure if he was ready for this but he had to fake the confidence to keep the situation from spiraling out of control. “I'll...be back in a bit,” he added. Originally he'd planned on staying with his son, of observing the first lesson and meeting the teacher. He wasn't expecting Choutarou though and that had changed the situation entirely.

“You can stay and observe if you like,” Choutarou offered. There was a long, heavy pause before the next word. “Shishido-san.”

Shishido shook his head. He needed out of here, to regain any and all semblances of sanity. And honestly, as bad as things had been between himself and Choutarou, Shishido knew the other would never do anything to hurt Shun. He wasn't the type to take things out on an innocent, unrelated party. “Be good for...Ohtori-sensei, okay? I'll be back in a bit.”

His son nodded, grinning as he followed Choutarou into the Ohtori house. Once the door closed Shishido let out a huge sigh of relief. _That_ had been unexpected. And now he had some unexpected time to kill. As he walked through Choutarou's neighborhood, it was all starting to come back to the brunet man. He was fairly sure he remembered there being a convenience store nearby. He could kill a little time there, maybe get some drinks or something.

Of all the people. He sighed again, resting his forehead against the cool door of the refrigerated drink case. “Worst luck ever,” he mumbled under his breath. It had been years since he'd last seen Choutarou. Almost ten years since they'd parted ways and that hadn't exactly been an easy or happy parting either. Their whole situation had ended in such an ugly way. He could look back now and see exactly what had gone wrong. At the time, he'd been blinded by youthful stupidity. They'd been way too young for that kind of a relationship but he couldn't bring himself to blame Choutarou. Or himself. The whole mess had been both their faults and neither at the same time.

The cans clinked in the bag at Shishido's side. He'd found one of Shun's favorites. There was a can in the bag for Choutarou too. It had taken several long moments of serious internal debating and he wasn't sure if the guy still enjoyed strawberry-kiwi juice but that's what Shishido had picked up. A decade ago, it'd been one of Choutarou's favorites but time had a way of changing people.

When he returned, Choutarou's mother was the one to greet him. It was a relief and even moreso when she didn't appear to recognize him. Shishido stood off to the side, standing barely in the doorway of the music room. Choutarou's family had always had a musical tendency. They had an entire room in their house just for playing. When Shishido had first seen it, he had had trouble believing it. The differences between himself and Choutarou had never felt more apparent. Even now, it was still hard to believe in a lot of ways.

The two at the piano didn't seem to notice him.

Seeing Choutarou was hard. Far harder than it had seemed when Shishido had been outside. After a little while, a timer buzzed. Choutarou did something that turned it off, saying something to Shun that Shishido couldn't make out.

“I've got drinks,” Shishido offered, finally breaking his silence. Choutarou jumped at the sound of his voice.

Shun closed the book on the piano. He was grinning which was a surprised to Shishido. The man had expected to see a frustrated look on the boy's face. “Is there a grape one?” He asked, eyeing the bag at Shishido's side.

“Make sure Chou-Ohtori-sensei is finished first,” Shishido lightly scolded. “He might have something for you to do before your next lesson.”

“Shishido-kun will be returning?” Choutarou sounded surprised. He looked surprised too.

Shishido nodded. He'd already decided in advance that he'd make his son stick with lessons for at least a month. “Unless you have a problem with it.” Choutarou shook his head and Shun grinned. The two spoke for a few more moments, Shun scrambling to write something down. The smile on the boy's face was infectious because it had spread to Choutarou's face as well.

As he and his son were getting ready to go, Shishido went through the bag of drinks to hand Shun the grape one. Shishido's fingers lingered on the can of strawberry-kiwi juice. He could still not give it to Choutarou. Except he couldn't. Shishido handed over the can, trying and failing to ignore the surprised expression on the other man's face. Choutarou stared at it.

“It's not going to bite you,” Shishido tried to joke. He could see his once friend biting the inside of his cheek, a sign the guy was freaking out but didn't feel comfortable enough to speak his mind. Unless that was something about Choutarou that had changed over the years.

“Can we talk?” The younger man finally requested.

Shishido glanced down at Shun who had been watching them. “There a playground nearby?” He hadn't seen one in his earlier walk. Besides, he had a feeling he really didn't want his son listening in on this particular conversation. There were a few parts of his life that Shishido wasn't quite comfortable with his son knowing yet.

“There's one a few blocks away,” Choutarou answered.

The walk to the playground would have been awkward if not for Shun. The little boy was excited, trying to explain what he'd done during the short music lesson. If there was something he didn't know how to explain, he'd shoot an expectant look Choutarou's way. Those were the only times Shishido actually heard his former teammate speak.

When they reached the playground, Shun practically shoved his can of grape juice into his father's hand. Shishido didn't have time to say anything before the boy ran over to the slide. The man chuckled and took a seat on a nearby bench. He kept his attention focused on watching his son. He was acutely aware of Choutarou sitting beside him.

“You have a son.”

It wasn't a question. It wasn't full of judgment. It was just a simple statement.

“Shun,” Shishido confirmed. “He'll be six in August.”

“Are you married now?”

It was an innocent question, one Shishido heard all the time. It was one he expected to hear. Just because he knew it was coming didn't make it any easier to answer.

Shishido sighed. “No. It's not a fun topic for me to talk about either.” Thoughts of his ex-girlfriend were about as fun as a bullet to the brain. “Don't ask Shun about it. He doesn't know anything.” And it was going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Looking at his love life, Shishido couldn't help but notice he had an amazing ability to fall for all the wrong people. Case and point was sitting right next to him and the proof of the other was about to fall off the monkey bars. “Be careful,” Shishido called out. He'd rather not explain to the boy's grandparents why Shun was missing any teeth. Once was more than enough.

“What about you?” Shishido asked, steering the conversation away from himself. He didn't allow himself to look over. “You seeing anyone now?”

Choutarou was quiet for a moment. If it weren't for the movement of his arm as he took a drink, Shishido would have thought his companion gone. “No, not now,” Choutarou finally answered.

“It was a surprised to see you,” he continued on. “I'd seen the name and wondered if it was just some weird coincidence or maybe your brother.”

“And then you got me.” Shishido finally gave in, sneaking a peek at his former friend. The guy was fidgeting with his can of juice. “Most people tend to be surprised.”

Shishido knew he was kind of young to be a parent. Not unreasonably young but most 28 year old's weren't running around with a 5 year old. Most people his age were just starting down the whole settling down, starting to have kids, and had really little ones. “My kid's not like me at all either. Biggest klutz in the world with no interest in sports. Not even tennis. If he decides he likes music, you'll probably have good luck with him. He did not get my brain.” Shishido wasn't stupid but academia hadn't exactly been his strong suit.

That got Choutarou to laugh. “He seems like a sweet boy.”

“Don't ask me how that happened.”

Shishido stretched. And sighed. He knew what he needed to say. It was a topic he'd wanted to discuss about as much as he'd wanted to talk about his ex-girlfriend. Still, it was going to come up eventually if his kid was taking lessons with Choutarou. “Shun doesn't know...well anything before he was born, especially about...”

Hard to say. That's what this was.

“He doesn't know we dated,” Choutarou finished, summing it up perfectly. He flashed a quick nervous smile.

“Yeah.” Wow, great use of words there. Shishido wondered if the world could pity him and maybe swallow him up any moment now. “I mean, well, how? How do you explain something like that to a kid?”

Choutarou slowly nodded. “Besides, it's not as if it was relevant.”

“Exactly.” Someone who understood. “But, you know, if we're going to end up seeing each other again, I wouldn't mind being friends again.”

...crap, had he really just said that? Shishido poked the ground with his foot. Any minute now would be nice. A little Shishido-sized hole was all he needed to escape this nightmare. Choutarou was smiling. Shishido felt like cursing. He could already tell just how screwed he was.

~*~*~

“So, Shun's birthday is Thursday,” Shishido murmured. He was at Choutarou's, standing with the guy while Shun was practicing. It was the only time he really had to do so since it wasn't like they could exactly fit a piano in their apartment. “We're going out for dinner on his birthday and then he's having a small party on Saturday at my parents' house. If you want to come to either...”

Stupid Choutarou and his stupid smile. “Thank you for the offer.”

A few months had passed since the music lessons had started. If anything, the boy was even more in love with making noise than he had been before. Luckily, it had been fairly easy to fall back into a friendship with Choutarou. Surprisingly easy but then, they always had clicked. Their personalities seemed to fit together perfectly. When he'd been a teenager, Shishido had chalked it up to fate, that it had been some divine sign that he and Choutarou had been meant for each other. Now? He realized just how weird those thoughts were. Choutarou wasn't his soul mate, at least, not in the sense that a teenaged Shishido would have described. It wasn't as if Choutarou's gender had anything to do with it either. It was just the whole idea of a soul mate, of that one perfect person, was stupid. Really, the whole idea was just some Oshitari nonsense if Shishido cared to give it a label.

“Unfortunately, I'm busy Saturday,” Choutarou continued, “but I'd love to join you two on Thursday if it's okay with you.”

“He wants pork ramen,” Shishido warned. “His favorite character loves it so it's practically all he ever wants to eat now.”

Choutarou's eyes took on this faraway look. Shishido immediately knew where his friend had gone. “I haven't had ramen in ages,” the younger man said wistfully.

“It took me awhile to be able to eat the stuff myself,” Shishido admitted. “We're, uh...” Crap. “It's the same place.” Because it was awesome and cheap. Sure, it was kind of out of the way from his apartment but it was totally worth it. He had to admit this was probably a bad idea. He was inviting trouble into his life. A small voice in the back of his head yelled he was long past inviting it. Trouble had arrived the moment Ohtori Choutarou had opened the door.

Thursday seemed to appear in the blink of an eye. All too soon, Shishido found himself walking to the ramen shop, Shun at his side. His son was skipping with excitement. It was his birthday, he was getting pork ramen, and there was a shiny box in Shishido's other hand. Shishido just hoped he was ready for this.

“Sensei!” Shun dropped his father's hand, running over to Choutarou. The taller man was waiting for them outside the entrance to the small shop. “What are you doing here?”

Choutarou bent down, ruffling the boy's hair. “I hope it's okay. I can't make it to your party on Saturday like everyone else.”

Shun gave an enthusiastic nod. “Did Dad tell you how yummy this is?”

“Actually,” Choutarou glanced over at Shishido. There was a smile in his eyes and Shishido knew what his friend was about to say. Lowering his voice, Choutarou continued, “I'm the one who showed him this place.” It had been part of Choutarou's whole 'rebelling against being a rich boy' stage that had lasted for all of about two months when he'd been fifteen.

Shun's eyes grew wide, seeming to take up half the boy's little face. “He never told me that. You never told me that!” The boy said in quick succession, turn to address his father.

“I'm sorry.” Shishido was doing his best not to laugh and only just barely succeeding. “But you didn't even know who Choutarou;” Shishido froze at the the name slip. “You didn't know who Ohtori-sensei was the first time we came here,” he recovered.

“Well I know him now.” Because that was a valid argument. Sometimes Shishido didn't know if he should laugh or roll his eyes at some of the stuff his son came up with.

“Okay,” Shishido said, taking the third option. “Next time we go anywhere, I'm make sure to tell you who told me to go there.”

The smile on Shun's face was a little too smug for Shishido's tastes. His son looked entirely too pleased with himself for having won this little battle but in the end, it really wasn't about the battles. It was about the war and something as stupid as this was not where he was going to fight.

Over the years, the ramen shop had lost some of its rundown aesthetic, upgrading from milk crates to actual tables and chairs. None of them matched but that was besides the point. All it did was lend the place a homey feeling. It had gone from a hole in the wall dive, definitely not somewhere he'd take a kid (and if he were his parents, he would have been horrified at how often teenaged Shishido had come here) to still being a hole in a wall but one he didn't worry about bringing a kid to. The place even had a server.

After they ordered, the trio sat off to the side. A few others were in the shop but it was fairly uncrowded. Shun kept eyeing the box in his father's hand. Shishido shook his head. “After you eat.”

Shun pouted. Luckily, Shishido was immune to its intended effect. Choutarou, however, was definitely not immune to the pout and was visibly debating helping the boy out. Which was bad because Shishido knew he'd fall for whatever his friend would say. Stupid Choutarou and his being able to get Shishido to do anything without even realizing it.

“No,” Shishido repeated, putting a little power behind the word. “If you see it now, you'll just want to go home and if we do that, you won't get a chance to eat.”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because the now six year old was looking at the box with even more interest if that was at all possible. Just then, their food arrived and it was just the distraction Shishido needed to safely move the present out of Shun's sight without the boy noticing. Choutarou saw, shooting him a look. Shishido shrugged. He didn't care. He'd said his son would wait and this would make it easier on all of them.

The first one done was, to no one's surprise, Shun. Shishido watched the boy carefully, trying to make sure that his son didn't somehow choke. It shouldn't have been a concern but then normally the boy took the time to actually chew his food too. Shun looked around for the present, only just now noticing it wasn't sitting out anymore. “You have to wait until we're done too,” Shishido added between bites.

“I don't mind if he opens it while we finish,” Choutarou tried to help the boy out.

Shishido knew his friend meant well but that was the wrong thing to say. “He can wait,” the man repeated, voice firm. They were almost done. It would not kill his son to be a little patient. Just as he was turning back to his food, he saw Choutarou mouth an apology Shun's direction. Shun gave a little nod, mouthing back a thanks.

“Really you two?” Shishido asked, feeling more than a little outnumbered here. Shishido shook his head in disbelief. He sighed and decided that once (and just this once) he'd give in. He set the box on the table, pushing it towards his son. “This is only a small part of it.”

The soft smile on Choutarou's face should have been outlawed. Shishido busied himself with finishing his food in what was definitely _not_ a desperate attempt to keep from blushing or something like like that. Besides, he wasn't allowed to show any signs of the small crush that was threatening to appear. He wasn't going to screw up their rekindled friendship with feelings that might be stronger. They hadn't discussed their old relationship which meant that any future ones were definitely off-limits. It wasn't like a romantic relationship was possible anyway. Choutarou was a different person now and Shishido was too. Choutarou didn't deserve the headache of being with a single parent. So yeah, even the idea of having feelings was a bad route to go down.

“What is this?” Shun had the present open, staring at it in confusion.

“It's part of your present,” Shishido explained. “Your uncles are supposed to be setting up the rest of it at home.”

“It's just a cord,” Shun said even though they could all see that. “What's it go to?”

Shishido chuckled. “You'll see when we get home.”

“Does Sensei know?” Shun all but shoved the cord into Choutarou's face.

The taller man shook his head. “I have no clue, Shun-kun. You'll just have to wait until you get home.”

“You should come see it then,” the boy insisted. “Come home with us, please? Dad, can he?” He shot his father a pleading look.

Shishido was quiet, thinking about it. He'd been to Choutarou's home many times since they'd become friends but the other had never been to the Shishido boys' apartment. “If he wants to come and see, he can,” Shishido decided, speaking slowly and picking his words out carefully.

“I'd love to.”

Crap.

“WHAT!” Shun stared at the shiny black keyboard set up in their small apartment. It took up most of what little freespace they'd had but if that reaction was any indication, it was worth it. He turned to his father, eyes wide. When Shishido gave a little nod, the boy ran over to the instrument to inspect it.

“No need to be so loud kiddo,” a familiar voice said, yawning loud enough to wake the dead.

“Thanks for the help Jirou.” Shishido shot his friend a grateful smile. He looked around, noticing a friend was missing. “Gakuto already take off?”

Jirou nodded, pausing when he finally noticed Choutarou. “Said he had a date,” Jirou explained. “I haven't seen you in awhile, Ohtori. Since when have you two been on good terms?”

Choutarou paled though it wasn't as if anyone unfamiliar with him would have noticed. “It's nice to see you as well.”

“He's Shun's music teacher,” Shishido decided to nip this in the bud. No need to let the situation get out of hand.

“Really now?” Jirou sounded skeptical. He had an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

Shishido sighed. Really? Even after he'd tried to keep this from getting ugly? He loved his friends but they had a tendency to meddle in his life. “It's crazy how things happen,” he tried to stop the conversation. “Neither of us had a clue until Shun's first lesson.”

Luckily, Jirou finally seemed to catch the hit about dropping that line of talk. “Well I should probably head out anyway. Ami's been alone with the kids all evening so she's probably going nuts. See you Saturday.”

Choutarou waited to speak until after Jirou had left. “He has kids?”

“Two,” Shishido confirmed. Meanwhile Shishido's own child was completely enamored with the keyboard, hesitantly touching the keys to play soft melodies that Shishido didn't recognize. “Want something to drink?”

“Water's fine.” Choutarou turned his attention towards Shun and chuckled. “That's going to get quite a bit of use,” he said as he followed Shishido into the tiny kitchen.

“Well the whole music thing's lasted long enough that it's not just some phase he'd outgrow,” Shishido explained. “And we can't keep bugging you for little bits of practice time.” He pulled out two cups for them. They stayed there, listening to Shun. The atmosphere was actually nice. They had a comfortable silence going on between the two of them. It reminded Shishido of when they were teens, often spending the entire day together but working on separate projects. Those days, back before things had gotten complicated, had been nice.

“You called me Choutarou.”

Crap. Again. “It was an accident.”

Choutarou chuckled. “I didn't say I was complaining. It was kind of nice to hear actually.”

“Oh?” Shishido raised an eyebrow. Part of him wanted to run far away from this topic. They'd avoided bringing up the past and all that had happened and it meant that their current friendship was progressing perfectly.

“It reminded me of when we were kids.”

Definite crap. “Really?”

“We had a lot of fun,” Choutarou continued. “Remember the time we ended up late to that movie but you helped the manager deal with that drunk so he let us into an unused theater so we could still see our movie?”

“I still say that's the best movie I ever saw in theaters.” Shishido couldn't help but grin at the memory.

“Do you even remember what movie it was?”

“Not a clue.”

Choutarou started laughing. It was infectious and soon Shishido found himself laughing as well. “I don't remember what it was either,” the younger man admitted.

“You guys are loud.” Shun glared at them from the doorway. The adults just exchanged a look and started to laugh even harder. Shishido leaned against Choutarou to keep from falling down. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders as Choutarou leaned on him to do the same.

Shun stomped his foot on the floor. “Stop laughing at me.”

“I...” Shishido couldn't breathe. “Sor...”

“Not...” Choutarou sounded like he was having just as much trouble. “...pur...”

Shun continued to glare. “Adults are weird,” he finally declared once he realized the adults were only continuing to laugh. He stomped out, heading straight for his present. He started to play loudly as if he were attempting to drown them out.

With Shun gone, Shishido became very aware of how he and Choutarou were standing. The arm around him felt heavy but comforting. He knew he should move but he couldn't help it. He wanted to stay like this a little longer. It was a conflicting feeling that was only made worse by the fact that Choutarou was now resting his head against Shishido's. Crap. This was way bad.

“You can call me Choutarou again. I don't mind,” the younger man said, his breath hot on Shishido's ear.

“Then,” Shishido swallowed hard, trying to calm his racing heart, “then you have to call me Ryou. It's only fair.” He squirmed out from under his friend's arm and gave the guy a poke in the side. “You think you can do that?”

“I think so, Ryou-san.”

Shishido saw the grin on Choutarou's face and groaned. “Don't you dare. No more -san's on my name,” he tried to order as he sat on his counter. He could already hear his mother's voice in the back of his mind, scolding him. He ignored it. Besides, it was nice because he was now on the same level as Choutarou and able to look his friend in the eye without craning his neck up. “Did you every think we'd end up friends again?”

“After what happened in high school, I never thought we'd even see each other again, let alone become friends,” Choutarou answered honestly.

The older nodded, understanding where his friend was coming from. “Could you imagine if we'd stayed together? I mean, where we'd be now?” Oh crap. This was _not_ an appropriate topic of conversation.

Choutarou took his time answering. “You wouldn't have Shun,” he finally decided on. “I think, I think it's better to not go down that path though, Shi-Ryou. Dwelling on the past? It's never a good idea.”

He could respect that. He was grateful that Choutarou had said that. Trust his friend to be perfect yet again. If he wasn't such a nice guy, Choutarou would be downright sickening to be around with his whole perfectness. “Yeah, you're right. And I'd never trade Shun for anything. Kid's my world and has been since the day he was born.”

“Have you dated? Since he was born, I mean.” Choutarou had an innocent, if a tad blank, expression on his face.

Shishido fiddled with the cup sitting next to him. “Not much,” he admitted. “A few dates over the years but that's about the extent of it. Nothing serious, that's for sure. You?”

Choutarou didn't answer right away. Just when Shishido was about to give up and steer the conversation in another direction, he finally heard the other respond. “I...it's been about the same for me. I had a boyfriend for a couple of years in university but nothing serious other than that.”

“Why not? You're a nice guy. I'm sure you've got tons of people lining up to date you.” Shishido was annoyed at how happy he was to hear Choutarou's current relationship status.

“I'm picky,” Choutarou said with a nervous chuckle.

“So you either didn't have standards or I somehow passed them. Choutarou, I'm not sure which is scarier.” Shishido reached over, lightly punching his friend's shoulder.

“I think it was a little of both.” Choutarou shook his head, almost as if he couldn't believe it himself. “But, you know, as bad as it was when it ended, I don't regret it.”

“Me neither,” Shishido admitted. He ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, looking back on it now? I understand why it was a disaster. We were way too young for that.”

Choutarou nodded in agreement. “We just didn't think we were. Dumb kids, that's what we were.”

“It was all just way too much, way too fast, and it crashed and burned in a spectacular mess that ended up making me lose one of my best friends,” Shishido summed up their past. “At least it was fun.”

The banging on the keyboard in the other room stopped, Shun appearing a few moments later. “You're normal again,” he stated, looking at the two of them. It barely took him more than a step to reach Choutarou, tugging on the man's hand. “Come play with me?” He requested. Shishido could see his friend melt under Shun's adorable brown eyes. The kid had some deadly eyes, especially to the inexperienced.

“Why don't you guys play something?” Shishido agreed, jumping off his counter and narrowly avoiding falling into Choutarou. That would have been so beyond bad he really didn't want to think about it. Choutarou shot him a betrayed look but Shishido ignored it, choosing to instead push Choutarou out of the kitchen. The younger man quickly caved.

Shishido watched the other two sit at the keyboard. Choutarou glanced back at him for a moment, an obviously impressed expression on his face. He turned back to the instrument, gently running his fingers over the keys. It was that reaction that made Shishido feel proud of the purchase. It was a joint gift from his entire family, all of them chipping in some to get one of the better keyboards on the market. It wasn't the absolute best but it was in the top five. Shun seemed serious about music and if so, that made it a terrific investment. And if not? Well, at least they should be able to get most of the market value back.

Shun had his book of beginner melodies out. “Can we play this one?” He asked, pointing to something that Shishido couldn't read. Music was definitely not his strong point. The closest Shishido came was having a decent singing voice but that was the limit of his musical talents. He settled on the low-laying sofa that was set in the middle of the room. Laying down, he watched the other two.

He'd seen Choutarou with kids before but that had always been in a teaching setting or passing by in the street. Now? Shishido was hit by a sudden realization that refused to leave him alone.

Choutarou would make one hell of a good parent. If he ever had or adopted kids anyway. His friend hadn't outright stated it but from the sounds of it, his friend probably identified as gay. And as much as Shishido didn't want it to, that news made him smile. Shishido didn't know why. Well he did. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. Besides, it wasn't like he was gay. The only guy he had ever been attracted to was Choutarou which meant the guy was obviously some strange outlier. If anything, the best case to be made was that Shishido was Choutarou-sexual and oh god had he really just thought that? He was glad the other two had their backs to Shishido. It was bad enough he'd started to think he had a crush on Choutarou. There was absolutely no need to feed it.

He closed his eyes, listening to the two play. He wasn't sure how fast time was moving and it was only when the music changed, becoming something far too complicated for it to be Shun playing, that Shishido opened his eyes. Shun was curled up in front of the sofa, yawning as he fought to stay awake. Pulling his son onto the sofa with him, they listened to Choutarou play. Classical music had never been Shishido's genre but Choutarou always had had the ability to make it sound somehow interesting.

~*~*~

Kids were everywhere. Okay, not really but that's what it felt like. Shun and a bunch of his friends were running around the small yard at Shishido's parents' house. Why in the world he'd thought it was a good idea to have a dozen kids under the age of ten he'd never guess.

“Here,” Jirou said, handing over a small bundle. It didn't take a genius to realize it contained the man's younger daughter, a baby of just a few months. He held his other daughter on his hip. The man's wife was nearby, watching Jirou and the girls carefully. It was almost hilarious. “You need to explain.”

“Yeah, what's this I hear about you hanging out with Ohtori again?” Gakuto said, appearing on Shishido's other side. Crap. He was trapped.

“Hey, cutie,” Shishido said, speaking to the infant he'd been handed and ignoring his friends. As annoying as Jirou could be, Shishido had to admit his friend had made some cute kids. The baby in his arms already had soft blonde curls that made her look angelic. “You're going to be a heart-breaker when you grow up.”

“Ohtori-kun,” Jirou reminded. “Talk or we trade.”

Shishido took one glance at the squirming toddler Jirou was attempting to hold onto and shook his head. He was more than glad his son was past that stage. Shun had been a nightmare as a toddler and he did not envy Jirou one bit for having two and getting to live through it twice. “He's Shun's piano teacher, that's all,” Shishido explained.

“And you expect me to believe that's a coincidence?” Gakuto was skeptical, not that Shishido could find he really blamed the guy. Had their positions been reversed, Shishido would sure he'd be acting the same way.

“It is.” The sleeping baby shifted in Shishido's arms, yawning but never waking. “She like you or she like Hana?” He asked, nodding towards Jirou's older daughter.

“Me.”

Shishido and Gakuto exchanged twin looks of amusement. The sheer amount of relief in Jirou's voice was clear. Then again, the blond's older daughter had rarely slept, being a fussy baby who had often started crying at the drop of a of hat. Again, Shishido couldn't help but appreciate just how relatively easy his own son had been.

“I mean it though. My mom's the one who set it all up, not me. Choutarou was just as surprised as I was.”

Gakuto groaned loud enough to wake the dead. “Jirou, we're too late.”

The other nodded, frowning as he did so. “At least we can say we tried.”

Shishido growled. Did these two have to always be so frustrating? “What are you two going on about?”

“You're calling him 'Choutarou' again,” Gakuto answered, rolling his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That can only mean one thing. You've already fallen for him. _Again._ ”

Jirou finally gave up, setting his toddler on the ground. “And don't tell me you haven't. I saw how you were looking at him.”

“We're just friends.” This wasn't a thing, not like the other two were making it out to be. “Believe me, I remember what happened in high school. I'm not going to have a repeat of that.”

“Jirou, your kid's getting away,” Gakuto observed. Shishido looked over, noticing the little girl had managed to somehow make it halfway across the small yard. She was getting dangerously close to where Shun and his friends were playing. The blond man swore, heading over to collect his wayward child. His wife was on his heels, the two speaking.

Which also meant that Shishido was now alone with Gakuto. Hello hell on Earth. “But,” Gakuto sighed, shaking his head. The beads in his hair clinked, sounding almost musical. “But I guess this isn't high school. You guys did that whole self-destructing thing because you were a couple of dumb kids.”

“You were one too,” Shishido shot back. Sometimes he wondered if Gakuto still be one.

“Shut up,” the redhead snapped. “Just listen to me for a few seconds, okay? All I'm trying to say is that maybe you guys will have better luck this time around.”

“Is that a blessing?” Shishido stared at Gakuto, more than a little surprised to hear that.

Gakuto shrugged. “One way to interpret what I said. But whatever you do, do not tell Jirou.”

Shishido shifted their friend's daughter, trying not to wake her as he laughed. She might have been small but infants somehow always seemed to weigh ungodly heavy amounts. “Are you still scared of him?”

“Scared of who?” Jirou asked, returning without the toddler.

“I'm not scared of him.” Gakuto's eyes were practically throwing daggers at Shishido.

“Want her back?” Shishido held out the infant. “And you, still.”

“I'm not,” Gakuto continued to protest. “That happened years ago and I'm not scared of him. It's Jirou. Who in their right mind would be scared of you?”

Shishido grinned. “Keep talking. The more you do it, the bigger a hole you dig for yourself.” Jirou took the infant, grinning and nodding along with Shishido's words. “So, we're done with the whole Choutarou thing?”

He didn't like it when the other two exchanged a look and nodded in unison. Jirou gave his younger daughter a little hug as he added, “just don't go making the same mistakes again.”


	2. Part 2

Shishido let out a whoop of joy as his lob went in right at the line. Jogging over to the net, he shook hands with his coworker, a fellow tennis instructor at the sports club Shishido worked at. “I can't believe you made that,” the other man said, shaking his head. “Good job.”

“I thought I was a goner when I dropped that first set,” Shishido admitted.

“Want to play another?”

Shishido shook his head. “Can't. My kid and a friend are attempting to cook dinner.”

“Attempting?”

“Yeah,” Shishido said as they walked towards the clubhouse. “My friend still lives with his parents so he's basically hopeless.” He held the door open, motioning his coworker to go in first.

“Really? The way you phrased that, it sounded like you were talking about a girl.” The guy laughed, apparently amused by that. Shishido didn't get it.

“Nah, just an old friend,” Shishido explained. “We grew apart a few years ago but back in March met up again and started becoming friends again.” It was weird to think just how much Choutarou had become part of his life in just a few months. They'd gone from not speaking to him trusting Choutarou's attempts at cooking. Really, that was the one thing that ruined Choutarou's otherwise perfect persona. He completely lacked any skills in the kitchen. It was sad but Shishido honestly had more faith in his son to create something edible.

Pulling off his sweat-soaked shirt, Shishido rummaged through his bag for a clean one. “Childhood friend?” The coworker asked as he did the same.

“More like middle school and high school.” Shishido frowned, only finding dirty shirts in his bag. He knew he needed to clean it out but he hadn't thought it was that bad. “We got any clean shirts in the laundry room?”

His coworker shrugged. “Have fun in there. I think we might have a few left but I have no clue.”

“Going to see if anyone's signed up for a session tomorrow?” Shishido asked as he headed towards the door marked 'Staff Only' that housed the club's laundry room. It was mostly used for the millions of towels the place seemed to go through but the various trainers and instructors tried to keep some clean club shirts stocked.

The answer drifted back as the coworker walked the other direction, heading out of the locker room. “Might as well.”

Awesome! Shishido grinned, spying a whole stack of the club's purple shirts. The locker room was empty when he emerged a few moments later. It didn't bother him. All that meant was that he was all the more likely to get out of there quickly. Besides, as terrible as the food was going to be, Shishido had to admit he was looking forward to his birthday dinner.

“Miss me?” Shishido called out as he stepped into his apartment. It was more than a little surprise that the place smelled good. With the combination in his kitchen, Shishido had expected fires. There was a familiar set of voices laughing coming from the room. Thinking they hadn't hear him, Shishido quietly walked towards the room with a grin on his face.

And that's when he discovered why his apartment wasn't a disaster. “Takeout?” He asked, not even bothering to hide. Not that he could have anyway.

“It seemed the safer option,” Choutarou answered as he moved to let Shun rush past him.

“Happy birthday Dad!” The boy cheered. “We gotted your favorite.”

Ruffling his son's hair, Shishido corrected the boy's grammar. “It certainly smells good,” he added, looking between the two. “Eat now or do you guys want me to take a quick shower?”

“Now,” Shun decided for them. “It's been making me real hungry and Sensei said no snacks.”

“I didn't want you to ruin your appetite,” Choutarou protested. His face looked adorable as he was obviously torn between giving in to Shun's puppy dog eyes and being a responsible adult.

“Why don't you get the movies out?” Shishido decided to try and save Choutarou. He really didn't want melted friend all over his kitchen.

Shun nodded, slipping past Shishido to head towards their little television in the main room of the apartment. He was halfway there before he stopped and turned to look at them. “Which one?”

“Start from the beginning,” Shishido answered. “Plates are-” he stopped, watching Choutarou open the cabinet and pull three out. When had that happened, that Choutarou had become so familiar with his kitchen? Nevermind the fact that the taller guy looked good in the room. Shishido swallowed hard, trying to squash the thought. A crush on Choutarou was the absolute last thing he needed right now. And that's exactly what he had. It _sucked_.

Choutarou knew his kitchen. The thought wouldn't leave Shishido alone the entire time they watched _Return of the Jedi_. Shishido loved the movie and normally it was everything when he watched. But now? Now he found himself sneaking little glances over at Choutarou. Hating himself for wondering what it'd be like to have Choutarou again. Sadly, the guy had only physically improved with age.

Clenching his hands into fists, Shishido fought the urge to reach over and touch his found. Did his hair still feel as soft as it had in high school? Was he still muscular or had he let his physical training go? He looked like he still had the same muscular build but clothes could be deceiving. Could Choutarou still pull off that irresistible look, the one that was somehow both hot and sweet? Looking at his friend, Shishido hated himself. He hated that he was wondering what it would be like to date Choutarou again. He could remember high school, remember what a disaster it'd been and how wrong they'd ended up being.

In the end, they'd just been too young. The relationship had started almost immediately after Shishido had started high school with Choutarou still in middle school. That first year had been amazing. Basically they were friends who hung out, sometimes holding hands and a few innocent kisses here or there. Even the second year hadn't been too bad. It was only when they'd started screwing around, adding sex to the mix, that they'd ended up destroying themselves. As an adult, Shishido could see it now. Doing that had put their relationship on a level that had been far too intense for a couple of kids.

But they weren't teenagers anymore.

The credits rolling signaled the end of the second movie. Or the third. He really wasn't sure. Shun had long since fallen asleep and had spent the last 20 minutes drooling on Shishido's shoulder.

“Back in a moment,” Shishido said, carefully shifting his son into a position that allowed him to carry the boy. After he put his son in bed, Shishido returned to find Choutarou cleaning up. Again, he couldn't help but be struck by just how much he liked having Choutarou in his room, of how right it looked.

“Thought I'd do you little favor,” Choutarou explained. “Are you okay? You seemed a little distracted tonight.”

Shishido rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. Had he really been so transparent? Crap. “I'm fine,” he lied. Or tried to. His tongue felt huge and heavy in his dry mouth and talking felt like an impossible task. He grabbed a cup from next to the sink, getting himself a glass or water. It didn't help.

“I'll be out of your hair soon,” Choutarou promised as he walked past Shishido, putting the plates in the sink.

“Or you could crash here.” Was he stupid? Shishido wondered what was wrong with him.

Choutarou froze for a brief moment. If he hadn't been watching his friend, Shishido knew he would have missed it. “I...” Choutarou looked down at the plate he'd started washing. “I don't know if that's a good idea, Shishido-san.”

The old nickname hit Shishido hard. He hadn't heard it in forever. He might have even forgotten how to breathe momentarily. “Didn't we go through that awhile back?” Shishido teased, trying to keep his nerves under control. Damn this night for stirring up all these old feelings that needed to stay in the past. “Ryou, not Shishido-san.”

The muscles in Choutarou's arm tensed. His jaw clenched. Slowly, he looked up from the plates and over at Shishido. His fave was hard, expression serious, and his eyes...Shishido had to fight not to shiver. They held a fiery intensity in them, one Shishido had rarely seen and even more rarely directed at himself.

When the younger man spoke, though, his voice was sad. It was completely at odds with his posture and expression. “I'm sorry Shishido-san.”

The name made Shishido bristle. He wanted to walk those few steps it would take to reach Choutarou. To shake some sense into his friend. One problem with that though. He couldn't move. Choutarou's eyes had rooted Shishido to the spot.

“I thought we could be friends,” Choutarou continued, voice still sad. Shishido's stomach dropped. Choutarou was leaving and their friendship was going to be over. Again. Just like that. He didn't want it to be over. “It's just...”

Choutarou gave a heavy sigh. “It's just that being around you has stirred up all these old feelings in me. Good ones but it makes it hard. I...I want us to be friends but I can't keep myself detached enough.”

That was why? Hearing the reason, Shishido understood. He'd been dealing with the exact same issues but it wasn't like he was going to run away. It pissed him off that that's what Choutarou was attempting to do.

“Dammit Choutarou,” Shishido growled, punching his wall. “You really think you're the only one feeling that way? How selfish are you?”

He watched the other's eyes widen, the hard expression melting away as Shishido's words sank in. “...you too?” It was barely more than a whisper but at the moment, it felt more like a shout for the entire world to hear. Shishido half-expected his son to come running around. After all, kids did have a tendency to ruin moments.

No son came. Shishido slowly pulled his fist back, letting his hand dangle at his side. “What do you think?” He asked, feeling his face heat up. Was he seriously blushing? How lame was that? Twenty nine and feeling like he was fifteen again. Only Choutarou could do that to him. Not even Shun's mother had ever been capable of reducing Shishido to the mess of emotions he was felt now.

He watched Choutarou move, coming close and closer. It wasn't until the other's arms were around him that Shishido's brain caught up and connected the pieces. Even then, all he could think was how weird it felt to be hugged by someone bigger than himself. Not bad, just weird.

Shishido squirmed, pulling away from the hug. He didn't want to but he had to. “Do you realize what you're getting yourself into?” He had to make sure Choutarou realized things were different now. The two of them were different. “I've got a kid. You date me, have need to realize you get him too. We're a package deal.”

It was the only thing that had really kept Shishido from dating. He was smart enough to realize that but before now, it had never felt like such a big deal. Anyone who couldn't handle that wasn't good enough for him. Choutarou had to be able to handle that.

“He's a sweet boy,” Choutarou replied. “And I know that. I like the both of you and I love spending time with you guys.”

“There's a difference between liking a kid and taking care of one.” Shishido gave a heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, wishing he could somehow convey just how important this was. “I can't really do fun and light.” At least, not when it came to Choutarou. “With me, it's going to be serious.” And that sucked. Shishido knew just how full of attachments and commitments his life had now. Maybe with someone else, he could have enjoyed a lighter relationship that wasn't quite so strings attached.

Choutarou nodded, eyes sparkling with determination. “I know. I've thought about it before,” he admitted. “It's scary but a good kind of scary.”

Part of Shishido wanted to doubt Choutarou could handle it. After all, he himself was still scared of being a parent and he'd been doing it for six years. He decided to ignore the voices in his head yelling why this was a terrible idea. “We take this slow,” he said, giving in. “And I don't want to tell Shun right away.”

“I can do that,” Choutarou agreed. His voice had raised half an octave, a sign he was excited. It was cute and it made Shishido smile.. He reached over to give his...oh crap. Boyfriend. Holy crap he was dating Choutarou. What the fuck was going on with this world?

“I should go,” the taller said after a moment. He certainly didn't want to go from the way he was hugging Shishido. “Unless you think it'd be okay to stay the night.”

He was leaving the decision firmly on Shishido's shoulders and Shishido wasn't sure how he felt about that. The smart thing would be to send Choutarou home. The problem with that? He didn't want Choutarou to go either. “You can sleep on the sofa,” Shishido decided, trying to find a decent middle ground. Though he doubted the sofa would be comfortable for Choutarou. It wasn't exactly long enough for an adult to stretch out. “I'll make you breakfast in the morning.”

A flicker of disappointment ran through Choutarou's eyes. Shishido felt a little guilty but in the end he didn't. As teenagers, they'd allowed their emotions and hormones run rampant and it'd torn them apart. When it'd been all said and done, they hadn't even been able to be friends. He wasn't about to let the same mistakes happen again. But it was also late and it was perfectly acceptable for a friend to stay the night.

Sleep did not come easy. Shishido found his mind wandering to the man attempting to sleep on his sofa. A goofy grin was firmly planted on Shishido's face and he couldn't make it go away even if he tried. It was lame. He was glad no one was around to witness this embarrassment. At one point in the night, he'd been tempted to grab Choutarou off the sofa and pull him into bed. Shishido resisted but just barely.

Voices woke him up the next morning. Putting his ear to his door, Shishido smiled. From the sounds of it, Choutarou and Shun were watching something together. It sounded like that one really annoying anime that Shun absolutely adored but Shishido wasn't entirely sure.

“Sensei stayed the night!” Shun proudly announced the moment Shishido opened his door. “he's been saying how cool Monkey is but I think that Dragon's way cooler.”

Yeah, Shishido had no clue what any of that meant in this context. He'd tried and succeeded at blocking out the shows his son liked. “Go get your school clothes on,” Shishido reminded. “I'll start breakfast. Anything special for lunch or do you want what's left from last night?”

“I wanna apple animal like 'Roshi-kun's mom makes.” Shun grinned. Shishido cursed 'Roshi-kun's mother.

“I'll try,” was the best Shishido could promised. Apparently that was enough because the boy ran to his room. The door closed with a bang that left Shishido wincing.

“Sleep well?” Shishido asked as he purposely avoided looking at Choutarou. Luckily, he had the perfect excuse to keep himself busy. He went into the kitchen, pulling stuff out for their breakfast.

Choutarou followed. He stood in the doorway, looking entirely too chipper and put-together in what had been last minute pajamas. “A little. I had trouble falling asleep.”

“I know the feeling.” Though despite the lack of sleep, Shishido had to admit he felt rather energized. “Keep the key,” he decided to add. Choutarou had the spare to the apartment so that he could get in yesterday but if they were going to date, it only seemed right that he keep it. Besides, if there was one thing that Shishido had learned from last night it was that Choutarou was almost as comfortable in the place as Shishido himself was.

“Shun's my last kid of the day,” Choutarou went on. “Want me to bring him over?”

“Nah, I'll come get you guys. Any plans for tonight?” Shishido focused on cracking the eggs.

“No yet. Why?”

“Dinner? We can go to a street place and just walk around for a bit,” Shishido suggested. “If you've still got your rackets, we could even hit up a street court.”

“You just want Shun to see me play, don't you?” Choutarou laughed.

Shishido looked over, immediately wishing he hadn't, and grinned. “Am I that transparent?”

“I don't think he'll realize,” Choutarou assured. He walked over almost silently and asked if Shishido needed any help.

Swallowing hard, Shishido did his best to focus on the food again and not on Choutarou. A pair of boxers, a simple tank, and messy bedhead were a dangerous combination on Choutarou. How they made someone so good look like pure sin he really didn't know. “Get dressed,” Shishido ordered. It came out far more gruff than he'd intended. “You should get dressed,” he said, trying again.

Choutarou stepped closer, resting his chin on Shishido's shoulder. “Why?” He asked, voice low and husky in Shishido's ear. Any thoughts that this was unintentional, that Choutarou _wasn't_ doing this on purpose, flew out the window.

“Because we're not having sex in my kitchen right now,” Shishido growled under his breath. Things he didn't want his son to hear, item number one.

“But it is a possibility.” Shishido could hear the smug grin in his boyfriend's voice. “Think I have enough time for a quick shower?”

“Make it quick if you want to eat with us,” Shishido answered. “If you want a long one, wait until we go and you can lock up.”

“You trust me here alone?” Choutarou sounded a bit awed.

“I trust you alone with my son,” Shishido pointed out. “I mean, I trust you with him, I trust you with anything.”

A pair of arms wrapped around Shishido. “Thank you,” Choutarou's voice whispered in his ear.

“Uh...”

Crap. Shishido slowly looked over to where his son stood in the doorway. The boy had a confused look on his face as he stared at his father and music teacher. “Shun...”

“What happened?” The boy asked.

Shishido reluctantly unwrapped Choutarou's arms, setting the bowl of eggs on the stove top. Walking over to his son, he crouched down so that the two of them were face to face. He was acutely aware of Choutarou watching them but he did his best to ignore his new boyfriend. “Shun, Sensei and I need to talk to you.”

How in the world was he supposed to explain this though? Shishido could barely handle the idea as it was right now. This was why he'd wanted to not have his son find out, especially not right away. He'd wanted some time to think and figure this out and now he was flying blindly into the situation. “It's nothing bad, I promise.”

Well that was the wrong thing to say. Shun's confused expression only grew. “Am I in trouble?”

Hadn't he just said this wasn't anything bad? Shishido shook his head and reached over to ruffle his son's messy black hair. Or at least, that's what he would have done if the boy hadn't ducked away. “No, you're not in trouble,” Shishido tried to make clear. He looked over at Choutarou. “Can you give us a moment?”

The other man nodded. He slipped past the two of them, giving the two of them a reassuring smile on his way. Moments later, Shishido heard his bedroom door click shut. Now he was alone with his son. And he still didn't know what to say or how to say it. So instead he hugged his son. “I still need to make breakfast,” he admitted, trying to think of how to best phrase this. Except there really was no best way.

He picked Shun up, setting the boy on the little counter next to the stove. If his mother saw this, she'd be screaming but luckily, his mother was nowhere near. He gave the eggs a quick stir before pulling out the skillet. “You know Choutarou and I are friends, right?” He started, still not sure where he was going with this.

“You wented to school together,” Shun confirmed.

Shishido nodded, focusing all his attention on the eggs. He wasn't going to tell his son about the relationship he'd had in high school. It was way too complicated for a six year old. Hell, it still felt way too complicated for Shishido himself. “Remember when Uncle Jirou married?”

“Yeah...” Shun sounded confused. “It's 'cause they were getting a baby.”

Crap. This was not a good way to explain it. Bad example, very bad example. Shishido poked the eggs in the skillet. “I'm really screwing this up,” he finally admitted. “I was kind of hoping to have more time to figure this out so I'd know what to say without messing it up.”

“Stir,” Shun ordered, poking Shishido in the arm. “Is something wrong?”

Shishido did as he was told. Hearing the question again, he looked at his son. “Why do you keep asking that?” He didn't get where that kept coming from.

“'Cause Sensei was hugging you and know you're acting mad,” Shun explained.

“I'm not mad at anyone.” Shishido turned the heat off. “Move your head.” That was a lie. He was angry but just at himself. Maybe a little annoyed at Choutarou for having gotten them caught less than a day after it'd started. But absolutely none of that was directed at Shun.

“Well 'cause people hug when something's wrong,” the boy explained as Shishido took out a few plates from the cabinet behind Shun's head.

“So every time you give Grandma a hug, you're upset?” Shishido asked as he set his son on the floor.

“No.” The boy said the word like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“So why do you give Grandma hugs?” Shishido kept going. Choutarou, now dressed in yesterday's clothes, appeared in the doorway. He was just out of Shun's sight, listening to the two Shishido boys talk.

Shun held up his plate. “She's Grandma.”

“Do you love her?” Shishido wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this yet but this at least seemed to make more sense than some of his other attempts.

Shun nodded. “She's really nice and we play and she makes yummy curry.” He was so enthusiastic that the food on his plate almost slipped off.

Seeing Choutarou in the doorway only made the next part harder. “Careful,” the father warned. “So we hug people we love, don't we?”

Shun waited a moment, thinking about what his father had just said. “So,” the boy started to say, “does this mean you love Sensei?”

It was a simple question. It was entirely logical, especially given the context of what they were talking about. That did not make it any easier.

“I...” Shishido really wished Choutarou wasn't standing in the doorway. “Maybe,” he admitted, feeling like he was about to die of embarrassment. “We both like each other a lot.”

“I like him too,” Shun agreed. “He's really nice and he teaches me music and some really neat songs. It's like I has another uncle.”

Choutarou shot Shishido an asking glance, wanting to know if it was okay to say something. Shishido nodded. “I really like the both of you,” Choutarou said. He took the two steps it too to reach them in the kitchen. Crouching down, he looked Shun in the face and smiled. “So, is it okay if I spend time with you and your dad?”

“Does this mean you get to stay more?” Shun asked. When Choutarou nodded, the boy's face broke out in a huge grin. “You gots to teach me more songs.”

The adults both chuckled. “Now it's time to eat,” Shishido told them. “And you've still got school today.”

Shun wrinkled his nose. “Do I have to?”

Shishido nodded. “Choutarou and I have stuff to do today.” Well Shishido did anyway and it besides, it wasn't like it mattered. His son needed to go to school and nothing was going to change that.

“Like what?”

“Eat.” Shishido handed Choutarou a plate. “Both of you.”

~*~*~

“And he askeded if I could come with,” Shun finished his story.

Shishido raised an eyebrow. “Your uncle asked if you wanted to go on their camping trip and he didn't ask me first?” It didn't exactly sound like his brother.

“Call him and ask for yourself,” Shun urged, sounding offended that he wasn't being believe. “It's this weekend.”

“Really now?”

“Yes!”

His son's persistence was unusually strong. Shishido gave in, calling his brother. It was a surprise when the story ended up being true. “Looks like you're going with them,” Shishido admitted after he got off the phone. A weekend without his son. As much as he loved his son, the thought had him more than a little excited. Besides, it'd be good for Shun to go camping. The boy really wasn't the outdoorsy type, something that Shishido could not figure out.

The door opened. Shishido didn't have to look to know who it was. There was only one person who walked in like that. Even his own mother knocked before walking in. “Do I need anything special?” Shun asked as he also ignored the door.

“Nah, your uncle said they've got everything,” Shishido answered. He couldn't get it. He'd taken his son out fishing before and on hiking trips but the reaction had been completely different. Why was he suddenly so interested in camping?

“What's going on?” Choutarou asked from the doorway as he took off his jacket.

“I get to go camping.” Shun was doing an excited dance that Shishido was sure their downstairs neighbors were just loving.

“Oh? When?”

“This weekend!”

Choutarou's eyes met Shishido's own and he knew exactly what his boyfriend was thinking. The thought had run thought his mind almost immediately after realizing he'd be kid-free for a couple of days. “Are you excited?” Choutarou asked even though the answer was more than obvious.

Shun paused his dancing for a moment to enthusiastically nod. “Can you help me pack my bag?”

“It's Tuesday,” Shishido reminded. “And Choutarou's never gone camping before.”

“Yes I have. It was even with you,” the other shot back. “We ended up getting lost and spending the night out in the woods while everyone else was in the tents.”

Oh yeah. The ending of that trip had been nice but the trip itself? Not something Shishido cared to remember. It had felt like one embarrassment after another. “So Dad's not a real good camper?”

Shishido shot his boyfriend a dirty look. “I hate you,” he mouthed over his son's head. 

Choutarou just grinned and mouthed back, “you love me.”

“Shut up.” Because Shishido had to get the last word in on their silent conversation. It was true anyway so he couldn't argue, at least, not without making a fool of himself.

“He's better than me,” Choutarou answered Shun. “But I can help. Just give me a moment with your dad?”

Shun nodded, heading towards his room. The sound of something crashing made Shishido wince but since he didn't hear any screaming or crying, he decided it was okay to ignore it for now. “How'd it go?”

“I got the job.”

The voice was quiet and Shishido had to strain his ears to hear. “I got it,” Choutarou repeated, voice full of disbelief.

Shishido crossed the room, going to the doorway where Choutarou was still standing. “I told you that you would get it,” he said as he pulled the other down for a kiss. “You were worried about nothing.”

“It's just...”

“How's it feel to know you're taking over Kantoku's job?” Shishido was glad the guy was finally retiring. Yes, things had turned out okay for Shishido but that incident his third year of middle school had left a sour taste in Shishido's mouth where Sakaki Tarou was concerned.

“Ask me again in a couple of months,” Choutarou answered, hugging to hard Shishido thought his ribs were going to be crushed. “Or in a year.”

Shishido pulled back, trying to get a little air so he could breathe. “You'll do fine.” Choutarou was an amazing instructor. Shishido knew. He was witness to almost daily music lesson. They almost made Shishido himself want to attempt to learn how to play himself. Almost but not quite. He wasn't an idiot. He knew a semi-decent singing voice was the extent of his musical abilities.

“Sensei!” The call rang through the small apartment as the six year old's patience ran out.

“You might want ot go,” Shishido said even as he pulled Choutarou closer to him. It was heartwarming how well the two got along. A few months ago when they'd first started to date, Shishido had had his doubts. Choutarou had said he could and was willing to be involved with Shun, that he realized dating Shishido meant gaining a kid. And he had. Shishido couldn't believe it at times.

“This weekend,” Choutarou promised, voice dropping to a husky whisper that caused goosebumps to form on Shishido's arms.

The older man nodded. “You're all mine. Make no plans,” he agreed. And then they were sending his brother an awesome gift. Or at least would return the favor someday whenever his brother had a kid. Actually, Shishido decided he should see if his brother wanted to take Shun more often. As it was, he and his wife had wanted the boy for the weekend to see if they could handle being parents. It was cute, people trying to see if they were ready. No one was ever ready for kids.

Now alone, Choutarou having gone to help Shun pack for his upcoming trip, Shishido went to start dinner. It was easier to attempt this alone. The other two meant well whenever they tried to help but, well, he did want to eat at a decent hour. Besides, it gave him a chance to think. Officially he and Choutarou had been dating for just under six months. Unofficially was harder to say. Did the time in high school count? Sometimes it felt like it should, other times that it shouldn't. It had been almost a year since Choutarou had reentered his life. Shishido clearly remembered what he'd said when they'd first started dating back in September, that they should take things slow. Of course, slow meant a different thing in the adult world. He was rather proud they hadn't started having sex until a couple of months ago.

It was something he'd been thinking about ever since Choutarou's birthday. He'd been wondering what it would be life if his boyfriend moved in. Shishido honestly doubted if anyone would even notice. Choutarou practically lived with them anyways.

That night it was almost impossible to get his son to go to bed. When the boy finally seemed to fall asleep, Shishido collapsed on the sofa. “Why is getting a kid to sleep the most exhausting thing in the world?” He whined.

Choutarou chuckled from his spot on the floor. He had papers spread out all around him. Shishido leaned over to try and see what they were. “Stuff for the new job?” He guessed, resisting the urge to reach over and pet Choutarou's hair. It always looked soft and fluffy but he knew it wasn't.

“Some of it. Most of it's from Sakaki-sensei. He wanted me to look over his notes since we'll be working together,” Choutarou answered. “This job...I still can't believe it.”

“You'll do fine,” Shishido reassured. “In fact, you'll be so awesome that Kantoku will just up and retire before summer's over instead of at the end of the next school year.”

“I hope not.” Choutarou sounded stressed. “I'm scared for next year when he'll be gone.” He sighed and leaned back, resting his head on the sofa next to Shishido's leg. “I'll have to figure out what to do with all my students. They'll need new teachers.”

“Shun?” Shishido had to ask.

“All mine,” Choutarou answered. “I'm not giving him up. The others...” He sighed again. “I have a few friends I can call and ask.”

Shishido smiled, glad to hear that. “It's probably for the best anyway,” he said. “If you tried to give him to someone else, it'd either make him unbearable or you'd still get bothered for lessons.”

“You think so?” Choutarou asked, shifting so he could sit up and look at Shishido.

“I know so.” Shishido knew his son and he could see just how much the kid hero-worshiped Choutarou. It made Shishido more than glad he'd allowed Choutarou back into his life. He took a deep breath. “Hey, Choutarou,” he tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach. “Can I ask you something?”

Choutarou's brow furrowed slightly and he nodded. “What is it?”

Shishido reached over, tracing the line of Choutarou's jaw with his finger. The other man was almost able to suppress a shiver. The action made a warm, pleased feeling go through Shishido. “Want to move in?”

His boyfriend stared, not speaking. Shishido wondered if he'd just made a mistake, if that had been too big a step for them yet. “Are...” Choutarou's voice was full of disbelief as his voice seemed to fail him. He tried again. “Are you sure?”

“I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't,” Shishido answered. He shifted and sat up, continuing to speak. “You basically live here anyway and with the new job, it'd be easier to commute from here. No worrying about disrupting your parents. Plus, we're already on a school schedule.” Not Hyotei's though. It would have been nice to be able to send his son there but the place was just way too much out of Shishido's price range.

“If you decide in the next month, I can try to get you on the lease.”

Choutarou pulled himself onto the sofa without appearing to use his legs. It was weirdly impressive and just a tad freaky. “And you don't think it's too fast?”

Shishido stretched as he shook his head, setting his feet in his boyfriend's lap. “If this were 12 years ago? Yeah, it'd be different and way too fast but now? I mean, we're different people now. Besides, you being here would be less disruptive.” As it was, Choutarou was constantly running from Shishido's apartment to his parent's place and no one was ever quite sure where he was going to spend the night.

“I...thank you.” Choutarou didn't seem quite sure what to say. “I'd love to.”

“Whenever you want,” Shishido added. “But when you do feel like it, you're more than welcome.”

“Next weekend,” Choutarou decided. He pushed Shishido's feet off his lap and leaned over. “I'm not giving up this weekend for the world.”

Shishido pulled the other so that he was practically laying on top of Shishido. He didn't care how awkward their positions might be or how uncomfortable. “Good. I wasn't going to let you.”

A heavy weight was laying across Shishido's chest when he woke the next morning. “Turn it off,” Choutarou's voice grumbled as he hugged Shishido closer.

It just made him laugh. Shishido gave a little kiss as he pulled away. “Sorry but you're going to have to get used to waking up at a normal time.”

“Middle of the night is not normal,” Choutarou answered, pulling the blanket over his head.

“Too bad for you it's not the middle of the night.”

“Don't remind me,” the lump on the bed groaned.

Shishido slid out of the bed. “You know you're going to love your new job. And besides, you've got a busy couple of weeks.”

The lump curled into a ball. “My parents are going to freak.”

Shishido laughed again, moving to get dressed. “You basically live here anyway, Choutarou, and your parents love me.” Or at least, Choutarou's father did and his mother didn't hate Shishido. That was a plus. They had expressed a few concerns about the relationship and most of that had been about the fact that Shishido had a kid. It was no more than anyone else though. “If you don't get up, I'm going to dress you.”

Well that got a reaction. The lump sat up, revealing a naked Choutarou. “You wouldn't.”

“I would.” Shishido couldn't decide if he wanted that blanket to slip down more or not. His boyfriend had that whole perfect mix of being innocently hotter than hell. But if that blanket slipped much more, Shishido doubted his ability to resist jumping the slightly younger man. Not the worst way to start the day but he had obligations.

When Shishido was dressed, he opened his door and blinked. “Up already?” He was surprised to see his son awake. Normally he had to go drag the kid out of bed.

The boy nodded. “I had trouble sleeping.”

Shishido paled slightly. Crap. They'd tried to keep quiet but Choutarou had problems with that. “A...any reason why?” Please say something else. Please say it wasn't noise. Please oh please let it be some other reason than his son hearing them.

“I want it to be this weekend.”

Someone was looking out for Shishido. The man sighed out of relief and ruffled his son's hair. “You've got a few days, kiddo.” And really, as excited as his son was, Shishido knew he himself was even more excited.

“A few days until what?” Choutarou's voice asked from the area of the bed. “It's next weekend.”

Shun's eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! Sensei, it's only a couple of days.”

“This weekend, camping trip,” Shishido reminded. “You've still got over a week, Choutarou.”

Shun looked completely lost. Shishido didn't blame his son. People were having two conversations right now and it was way too early for that kind of thing. But Choutarou couldn't keep his big mouth shut. “Your dad asked if I wanted to move in. I said I would but next weekend,” the voice from the bed replied.

Almost immediately, Shishido noticed a change in his son. He doubted if anyone else would have caught it. The boy's expression didn't change; it didn't say anything negative. There was just, well, this air around the boy that seemed to change. Shishido frowned, watching his son. As the morning went on, he kept an eye on the boy who seemed to have quickly recovered. Both Shun and Choutarou were acting like everything was normal but Shishido wasn't sure. He almost wondered if he'd just been seeing things.

When he was alone with Shun, Shishido knew he hadn't.

“What's wrong?” IT was bugging Shishido that something was up with his kid and had been since the had learned Choutarou was officially moving in.

“Why's Sensei gotta live with us?” Shun asked, his voice quiet and wavering but somehow oddly combative.

The hostility was a surprise to Shishido. His son adored Choutarou, had from almost the moment the two had met. Honestly, that had been one of the reasons why Shishido had felt so confident asking the other man to move in with them. Shishido stopped walking; his son followed suit a few steps later.

“I thought you liked Choutarou.” Shishido wondered. Had someone been talking to his son? But who? Not his own and he doubted Choutarou's. Everyone in their circle of friends and family had voiced approval. Well, at least no one had resisted or said it was a bad fit. But if it wasn't someone saying something, where was this coming from?

“He's nice,” Shun replied. At least that answer was sincere. “But if he moves in, then that means Dad's not gonna get married I won't get a Mama like all my friends got.”

It felt like he'd just been hit by one of Choutarou's old serves. Had his son really thought that? Was the lack of a mother really bothering his son? He'd never acted like it had before and honestly, Shishido had thought he'd lucked out years ago when Shun's mother had left. A girl would ask where her mother was and want a female figure but a boy? Probably not. That had been Shishido's thoughts anyway. Apparently he'd thought wrong.

“You're worried about having a mom?” He asked, wanting to make sure he had this right.

Shun looked down, staring at his feet. He refused to look up. “All the other kids gots moms,” the six year old finally mumbled. “All I got is Dad.”

“And your grandparents and all your uncles and aunts and cousins and Choutarou,” Shishido pointed out, trying to lighten the mood. He crouched down in an attempt to get his son to look at him. The boy looked away.

“But they're not moms.” Shun kicked at the dirt, trying to loosen a rock.

Shishido sighed. How was he supposed to respond to that? What his son was saying, it was all true. None of the people in the boy's life filled the mother but until now, Shishido hadn't thought it was an issue. He hadn't thought Shun needed a mother, not after what had happened with the boy's mother. That relationship had left a bitter taste in Shishido's mouth, one that had had him reluctant to even date until Choutarou.

“No, they aren't moms,” Shishido admitted. “Instead you're stuck with me and we get Choutarou. I know he's not a mom but he helps take care of you, doesn't he?”

Shun nodded, still refusing to look up. “He can't cook.”

“No,” Shishido agreed, laughing. “He definitely can't cook. You're better in the kitchen than Choutarou.”

“That's not good.” Shun giggled. The sound was magic to Shishido's ears, helping make some of the unease he'd been feeling go away. “Sensei is really nice,” he added, almost as if it were an afterthought.

Shishido saw the opening and ran with it. “I know you like him. Now instead of him running back and forth from his home to ours, he'll just always be with us.”

Shun finally looked up, meeting Shishido's eyes for the briefest of moments. “No more getting woken up in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah, no more of that.” Something Shishido was glad for. Choutarou had woken them up on more than a few occasions dues to his running from home to home. “After he moves in, we'll be like a little family but with no mom's. And after he's moved in, we can all go do something together?”

“Can we go to the ride place?” Shun's earlier hesitation had almost vanished by this point.

“The amusement park?” Shishido asked, wanting to make certain that's what his son was talking about. The boy nodded enthusiastically. “After Choutarou's moved in, we can all go together,” Shishido promised.


	3. Part 3

The apartment was quiet. No music, no kid's shows, just quiet. It was amazing. Shishido couldn't remember the last time he'd had his apartment to himself. Probably never.

There was a rustling at the door but he ignored it. He already knew it was Choutarou. His boyfriend had left a little while ago to grab some clothing and personal items. Even though they'd agreed to wait until next weekend, Choutarou had already started to move in. It meant the apartment was starting to feel a little cluttered but that just made it feel more like a permanent home, one where his life was equal parts Shun and Choutarou.

“Taking a nap?” Choutarou asked, leaning over the back of the sofa. He had that beautifully warm smile on his face, the one that made Shishido feel like melting into the furniture.

“Enjoying the lack of kid,” Shishido answered, speaking truthfully. “Haven't had a weekend like this in six years.”

“If I weren't here,” Choutarou said as he set something down that thumped loudly, “you'd just stay there all weekend, wouldn't you?”

Shishido raised his hand, setting it on top of Choutarou's. “Probably,” he admitted, the idea tempting. “We're taking Shun to the amusement park by the ocean sometime soon.”

“Oh?” Choutarou moved, coming around to sit on the sofa. He pushed Shishido's gets out of the way to give himself a little room. “Why?”

It took effort to rearrange himself into a comfortable position. Shishido shot his boyfriend an annoyed look but there was no force behind it. How in the world was he supposed to explain why anyway? He'd kept quiet about the conversation he'd had with Shun. Might as well get it out there now though. “It's to make him feel better. He was kind of freaked about the whole you moving in thing.”

Shishido could practically hear the wheels turning in his boyfriend's head. “It's not because of you so don't even,” he threatened before Choutarou could say anything. “He was just talking about how you moving in means he won't have a mom.”

“Is...is that an issue with Shun?” Choutarou's voice was hesitant.

“I don't know.” Shishido shrugged. “I think that some kids at his school might have been talking about it but I don't know.” The troubled look on Choutarou's face made Shishido frown. “Stop that. We had a talk about it and he's okay now. But we're going to the amusement park.”

He didn't give Choutarou a chance to protest.

The weekend passed in a blur. All too soon he found himself at his parents house, Choutarou at his side. His parents liked to hold family dinners every so often. Shishido and his brother had decided it'd just be easiest to trade the boy for peace there.

“Did you have fun?” Shishido's mother asked as everyone gathered around the table.

“Uncle Dai almost lost the car,” Shun told them, laughing about some untold joke.

All eyes turned to Shishido's older brother, just waiting to hear that particular story. It was in that moment, when he was looking at his family and listening to his brother's story, that Shishido really felt like his life was good. Things were just right. He slid his hand under the table, reaching over to give Choutarou's a squeeze. His boyfriend shot him a confused look but Shishido just smiled. It was hard to explain and besides, what was the point? He'd just come off looking lame and sappy. He loved his family but that was definitely crossing the line.

“So you see, I _didn't_ almost lose the car,” Shishido's brother finished up the story.

“It's a good thing you didn't,” the man's wife added. “Paying back the rental agency isn't an expense we can really afford, what with us needing to save for the future.”

All eyes turned to look at her. She and his brother shared a glance, the two smiling. Shishido thought he saw faint blushes on both their faces. Apparently he wasn't the only one to notice because his mother asked, “are you...?”

“We just found out Friday morning,” his brother confirmed. His wife nodded, her smile growing wider.

“How far along?” And that's when Shishido understood. He knew the two had been trying for kids. It wasn't a family secret but they had appeared to be having trouble. It'd been almost a year since they'd started and nothing. So this was big family news. Shishido was glad to hear even if he doubted he'd be able to send his son over to his brother's place very much.

“Almost two months.”

Shun looked from adult to adult, confusion written all over his face. “What's going on?”

Shishido could feel the weight of everyone expecting him to explain it. The joy of being the parent. “Your uncle and aunt are having a baby.” He couldn't make it much clearer than that.

The boy turned to look at his aunt, eyes huge. “When?”

“Not for many months,” she answered. “We don't have a specific date yet but we're probably looking at early December.”

“So not near my birthday.” Shun sounded relieved. “Can I name it?”

“How about you help us come up with names?” Shishido heard his brother suggest.

As they walked home, Shishido heard his son telling them all about his camping trip. Choutarou was interesting, responding back with questions and comments. Shishido wasn't entirely following the conversation. He knew he probably should but he kept getting distracted by his own thoughts. Like how wonderful his life was at the moment. A few years ago, he would have thought all this impossible. Especially the whole situation with Choutarou. He really had thought that when they broke up in high school that that was the end of everything between them. They'd never speak, never see each other, never anything again. And yet, here he was dating Choutarou once more. Not just dating either but Choutarou was moving in too. It was serious and that should have been scary but somehow it wasn't.

~*~*~

Things were a mess. Spring, summer, and autumn had all come and gone and they were in the midst of winter now. The happy perfect life Shishido had been enjoying had come to a screeching halt just moments ago.

“Is this Shun?” She asked, her voice sickeningly sweet sounding. Shishido was proud of his son for stepping behind Choutarou, using the tall man as a physical shield so she couldn't get her claws on him. That was the only word for those freakishly long pink nails on her fingers.

“Leave,” he growled. It didn't help that she'd put herself between him and his apartment. The fact that she'd turned herself into a physical barrier and it pissed him off. “You've got no right to be here.” Choutarou said something but Shishido had no clue what it was or who he'd spoken to.

“And leave my family?” She asked, actually having the audacity to sound hurt. It was only the steel grip on Shishido's wrist that kept him anchored. Choutarou was still hellaciously strong but it was also just enough of a distraction for Shishido to regain some of his composure. Flying off the handle would not be good for anyone right now.

“What's going on?” Choutarou's voice murmured in his ear.

Shishido didn't bother being discreet. “Take him somewhere,” Shishido requested, obviously referring to his son. “Anywhere.”

He needed Shun gone. His son needed to be somewhere far away, safe from this woman. Until Choutarou had Shun somewhere else, he couldn't even begin thinking of relaxing. He could tell Choutarou was reluctant to leave by the way his fingers lingered on Shishido's wrist.

Time had treated Megumi well. Shishido hated that she looked barely in her 20s when he knew she was nearly a decade older. She still had the pretty black hair, exactly the same shade of Shun's. Seeing her again, he was able to see just how much certain parts of his son resembled this woman.

Even after Choutarou left with Shun, the two of them didn't move. Shishido refused to do so until she left and she...well, he didn't know. He wasn't inviting her in, that was for sure.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, trying to keep this civil. For the moment, he was barely succeeding.

She gave a little bow that felt like it was mocking Shishido. “To repent for the harm I've done and to rejoin Shun's life.”

Yeah, just hearing her say his son's name was enough to make Shishido see red for a moment. He clenched his fist, forcing himself to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down.

“Don't say his name,” he warned. He really, really did not want to do something stupid. It would only hurt Shun in the long run even if it would be momentarily satisfying. “You're not welcome.”

She looked up. The moment she did, he could see that the bowing had been a deliberate act. She had her sad eyes, the ones that were meant to tug on a person's heartstrings. They made her look sorry and he almost felt bad. Almost. He'd forgotten how much of a manipulator she'd been. A flood of memories were coming back, of all the times she tried to make him or someone else feel guilty so they would do stuff for her. Shishido was glad his son hadn't inherited that particular trait.

“He's my son.” Her face could break a heart but her voice wouldn't. He growled in annoyance. She couldn't even pretend to be sincere about this?

“Not for seven years,” he shot back. As far as he was concerned, she might as well be dead. She'd severed any ties with Shun the moment she'd walked out of the apartment that final day.

“I was young and an idiot,” she answered, voice still lacking any traces of sorrow or passion. Honestly from the way she spoke? She could have been speaking to a stranger on the street.

Shishido shook his head. “Don't even try to use those excuses. I know you want something and what it is, you're not getting it.”

Megumi straightened up, taking a moment to fix her hair. She seemed to care more for it than the seven year old boy Choutarou had whisked away to safety. “I mean it. If you can find it in your heart, I want a second chance. He needs me.” She paused, biting her lip as she added, “Ryou, you need me. Together, the three of us can be a family again.”

Now more than ever, Shishido was glad he had Choutarou in his life. The idea of ever having this woman in his life, of having a romantic relationship with, was laughable. He might have cared for her once but that was definitely not the case now. And if Shun needed a mother, well, he didn't need this one. Years, maybe even just a few months ago, Shishido might have wavered. He wasn't wavering now.

“No happening,” he told her. “To any and all of that. You left so now you have to deal with the consequences.”

“He needs his mother.”

“Too bad you aren't one.”

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. She actually looked genuinely hurt. His phone started buzzing in his pocket. Some classical song started to play. Choutarou was calling. Keeping an eye on Megumi, Shishido answered it.

“My parents' place,” was the first thing out of Choutarou's mouth.

Relief flooded Shishido's system. “Good. Stay there?” Or at least until I can call you back.” Megumi would never find Shun there.

“Who is that?” Both Choutarou and Megumi asked in unison that created this weird momentary double effect on Shishido's ears.

“Bad news,” Shishido answered, speaking to his boyfriend in the off-chance that ignoring Megumi would make her leave. “I'll explain later, okay? Just keep Shun away from here for now.” He noticed how Megumi was watching the phone closely. It was not a comfortable feeling. “You might want to stay there overnight.”

Choutarou went quiet. The only indication he had that his boyfriend hadn't hung up was the sound of Choutarou's breathing. Shishido knew his boyfriend, knew he was trying to figure this out with what little he knew of the situation. “His mother?” The words were quiet, as if he were afraid someone would overhear. Probably Shun.

“If you can even call her that,” Shishido answered. He certainly didn't want to. “I...I'll call back in a bit, okay?”

“Don't do anything stupid,” Choutarou teased, ending the call.

As much as he really did hate the teasing, Shishido couldn't help but smile as he slid the phone back into his pocket. Trust Choutarou to know the perfect thing to say.

“Who was that?” Megumi asked, annoyingly curious. “Was that your friend? The one you sent Shun with?”

Shishido crossed his arms and glared. He wasn't going to budge. Maybe if he didn't respond to whatever she said, she'd leave. Whatever it took to get through this situation and dealing with her.

“He was cute.”

His nostrils flared and it took all his self control to keep his tempter in check. Had she always been this way? He'd always assumed his memories of her had been tainted by the heartbreak and betrayal but not he wasn't quite so sure. He wondered what it was he'd seen in her to begin with. Had it been a purely physical attraction? He was starting to wonder about that.

“He's taken.” By me. “So don't even bother. Besides, you're about the furthest you could be from his type.” Choutarou was very firmly attracted to guys. Shishido couldn't remember a time he'd seen Choutarou look twice at a woman. She almost looked disappointed at the news. Shishido wondered if it'd be rude to gag. Probably. He wished he could get her to leave. Why not? Things were going so well.

“I'm just trying to fix my mistakes,” Megumi said, jolting Shishido out of his thoughts. He realized he'd said that last bit aloud. “I've done a lot of thinking and realized I was a fool.”

Shishido snorted. That was one way to put it. Personally he preferred the term 'fucking idiot' but that was his own opinion. “And I believe I've made it perfectly clear your efforts are not welcome.”

He could not forgive her, just like he could not forget what had happened. Neither of them needed to rehash the details. What had happened was long over and as far as Shishido was concerned, any part of her in his life or that of Shun's was equally over. “The moment you walked out the door that day, you forfeited any involvement in my life or that of Shun's.”

They stood in silence. He wasn't sure how long they were there. It surprised him how calm he felt and he was more than a little amazed that he'd been able to keep himself in check. Patience and dealing with bullshit weren't exactly his strong suits.

Megumi finally gave a soft sigh. “I'll leave for now.” Those lovely magical amazing words. It was hard not to grin. “But we need to sort this out.”

No. No they didn't. Shishido held his tongue somehow. He waited, not calling Choutarou until she'd been gone for nearly an hour. He wanted to make sure she was long gone. Shishido found it impossible to fully relax, even with the door locked. As he waited for his boys, he knew it was crazy but he kept waiting for Megumi to try something.

When they came home, Shishido finally relaxed. Shun was half-asleep and Choutarou put him to bed. He probably should have felt guilty about it but he was grateful for that. This was like telling his son he was dating Choutarou all over again but worse. How in the world was he supposed to explain this mess? Shishido had no clue but he knew there were going to be some hurt feelings pointed in his direction after all this.

“Sorry about that,” Shishido apologized after he'd gone over to double-check that the door was indeed locked. It was. He went to where Choutarou was standing and pulled him towards their sofa. He was still far too stressed to let the door out of his sight. Who knew what would happen if he did that?

Choutarou obliged. “What happened?”

Shishido knew himself. If anyone else had asked that question, he would have gotten pissed. Only Choutarou was special. “In general or just tonight?”

“Which is easier to start with?”

He groaned. “Neither. It's enough to make us look simple.”

That earned him a chuckle. “You sure do attract trouble, Ryou.”

“Do not.” Shishido stuck his tongue out. “If I did, you'd be far away from me.”

Morning came. Shishido groaned, his neck aching. That taught him what a bad idea sleeping on the sofa had been. He looked around, relieved that nothing was out of place. No ex-girlfriend's were lurking in the corner. It was just him. Any traces of sleep vanished. It should not have been only him in the apartment. He would have loved to say he had the self control to not go tearing through the apartment, looking for any signs of either Choutarou or Shun. Sadly, that would have been a lie.

He heard noise at the door. Shishido emerged out of Shun's room to discover the missing duo. “Morning,” Choutarou greeted, holding up a bag. “We got breakfast.”

Shun grinned. “We gots lots of stuff,” he said as he bounced over to Shishido's side.

“And you didn't wake me up?” The man asked, directing the unsaid accusation towards his boyfriend.

“You looked sleepy so I said you needed to sleep,” Shun answered. “Sensei wanted to wake you but I said no.” Okay, he couldn't bring himself to be upset after hearing that. His son could be stubborn at times.

As they ate, Shishido noticed his son constantly shooting impatient glances at his boyfriend. Each time, Choutarou would give a little shake of his head. Shun would look down at his food, disappointment written all over his face. After the fifth time this happened, Shishido had had enough. “Spill,” he ordered, wanting in on their little secret.

“My mother won a couple of passes to the ice skating rink near my sister's house. She gave them to us last night,” Choutarou replied, looking sheepish. “He wants to go.”

Shun nodded eagerly. “Can we?” He pleaded. “Please?”

Like he could say no to that. “You and Choutarou? If he says it's okay, I don't see why not.”

“No.” Shun looked at him, entirely serious. “All three of us. It's the whole family or no one. So please?”

He had to do it. Even if Shun hadn't called them a family, he would have but that word? That was the nail in the coffin. He nodded. Besides, it would be fun to get out of the apartment and do something together. Maybe he'd even be able to forget about yesterday. It was starting to feel like a bad nightmare but he had a suspicious feeling that it was just beginning. Still, Shishido decided he wasn't going to let that affect their day.

It was cold out but a pleasant sort of cold that meant the place was busy when they got there. It didn't deter them. Shun took to skating easily, only needing a little help when he first started. It was obvious he'd inherited at least some of his father's natural athleticism even if Shun wasn't a fan of sports in general. Shishido could not say the same for Choutarou, who actually had been an athlete at one point.

“Are you sure you don't want to take a break?” Shishido asked, offering his hand to Choutarou. The tall man was once again sprawled out on the ice, limbs appearing to go in every direction all at once.

“If I do,” Choutarou answered as he let Shishido help him up, “I'm done for the day.” He put an arm around Shishido's shoulders to steady himself.

“Is your friend okay?” A passing woman slowed down to ask.

“Just fine,” Choutarou answered, chuckling in embarrassment. “I think I just need some help with my balance.” She seemed to accept that and moved on, leaving the two of them.

It wasn't the easiest to skate with his boyfriend leaning on him. Shun kept zipping by them, laughing about their slow progress. Normally it would have bugged Shishido and sparked his competitive drive but he just couldn't bring himself to care. He was having fun even if he wasn't dashing around. Besides, as heavy and unstable as Choutarou was, it was nice to have his arm around Shishido.

“This is probably the wrong time to say it but I'm really glad I met you,” Choutarou murmured in Shishido's ear as they slowly made their way around the rink. “That everything's happened to bring us here.”

“Shut up.” Shishido looked down, fighting to keep from blushing like a some schoolgirl with a crush. “You keep talking like that and I'll start wondering if you're actually Oshitari in disguise.”

“Definitely not.” Choutarou laughed. The action threatened to make them fall over. Shishido had to stop them, leaning against the wall. “Last I heard, he was in Kyoto.”

“You talk to him?” This was news to Shishido. As far as he knew, Gakuto had been the only one who had kept in contact with Gakuto. Most of the old middle school and high school group kept in contact with a few others. Shishido saw Jirou, Gakuto, and Choutarou all the time. He knew Jirou sometimes talked to Kabaji and Taki. He'd figured that Choutarou and Hiyoshi had kept in contact since they'd been friends since they'd been kids. But Choutarou and Oshitari? That was a new one.

“Just occasionally,” Choutarou replied. “Whenever something major happens.”

They went around the rink twice, slow and steady. He could feel Choutarou gaining his balance and becoming more confident. “Think you can try it on your own?” Shishido teased. His boyfriend shot him an annoyed look that was absolutely adorable. If they'd been alone, Shishido didn't doubt what he'd do. He'd lean over and kiss Choutarou. But they weren't home so he kept his lips to himself.

Shun came rushing over, stopping so suddenly he fell down. That didn't seem to bother him though. “Dad! Can we race?”

“Ask Choutarou. He's the one using me to keep from falling over,” Shishido teased the two, or at least, Choutarou.

“Go. I can do this now,” Choutarou encouraged. He removed his arm from Shishido's shoulders.

“You sure?” Shishido didn't want to take off just for Choutarou to have a nasty spill.

“I can do this now,” was Choutarou's answer.

That was all Shun needed. He grabbed his father's hand, pulling Shishido with him. By now the crowds had started to thin out which made it easier for the two of them to race. “First one around the rink?” Shishido suggested. Shun grinned and nodded, agreeing to the terms.

The lights were painfully bright. Noise came rushing back but he couldn't distinguish anything other than his son and Choutarou's voices. He blinked. Why was he staring at the lights? His back was cold. He realized he was laying on the ice. A strange woman was crouched next to him, peering into his eyes carefully. She was talking to someone. Choutarou, he decided.

“-u okay, sir?”

Oh. She was talking to him. “Head's killing me,” he managed to say, slowly sitting up.

“Do you know where you are?”

One of these. He would have rolled his eyes except that would have hurt. “Ice rink,” he answered. “Shun, Choutarou,” he added, knowing that was likely the next question. “My pupils okay?”

The woman was momentarily surprised before catching on. “You've had a concussion before, haven't you?”

“A couple,” he admitted. “It's been a few years since the last one though.”

“Can you stand?” She asked, moving back to give him space.

“Probably. I'm a little afraid without some support.” The last thing he needed was to fall back down. How lame would that be? He'd already slipped and hit his head which was bad enough. Even worse was the fact that he'd given Choutarou a hard time about doing just that not even a few minutes ago.

He leaned on Choutarou. Taking a deep breath, Shishido closed his eyes for a moment to let the world stop spinning. “An dizziness?” The medic asked. He knew she was watching him closely.

Shishido opened his eyes. “Only when I stood up but I'm good now,” he decided it was better to stick with the truth.

She nodded curtly. “I'm going to say you're good then. However, if you experiences any changes whatsoever, I advise you seek medical attention immediately,” she stated. It sounded like she was repeating some script. She probably was.

Shun was worried. The look on his face clearly expressed that as he watched his father carefully. “I'm going home with him,” Choutarou assured. “If he starts to show any signs of a concussion, I'll make sure he's seen to.”

He groaned, knowing that what mean. “You're going to babysit me.”

Choutarou led him over to a nearby bench just outside the actual rink. “You should know that already.” Shun sat next to his father, taking off his skates. Every few moments, whenever he thought he wasn't being watched, he'd look over and carefully inspect Shishido's face.

“I”m fine,” Shishido assured. He knew what his son was thinking. “It'll take more than that to hurt me.”

“Don't worry,” Choutarou added, kneeling on the floor in front of Shishido. He reached for the other's feet, unlacing the skates before Shishido could even begin to protest. “Your dad has a hard head.”

“You sure you want to be saying that?” Shishido questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Choutarou just smiled. “You wouldn't and we both know it.”

Trust his boyfriend to be right about that. Shishido scowled. It was the only thing he could do. “Stay here,” Choutarou ordered, his own skates magically in his hand. Shishido had no clue when or how that had even happened. Shun went off with him as the two returned their skates.

They were taking their sweet time. Shishido's patience was starting to run out. Thankfully they appeared before he went completely crazy. “What's going on?” He asked. There was something suspicious about the twin looks of glee on their faces. They were planning something and he doubted it was anything good.

“Nothing,” Shun sang.

“You don't need to worry, Ryou,” Choutarou added, no doubt an attempt to reassure Shishido.

Shishido wasn't so sure about that. Honestly, he was even more suspicious of them now. Still, it wasn't like they were talking. It'd probably be something that would annoy Shishido anyway like not letting him get up for the rest of the day or do anything on his own but piss. “Are we going home?”

“Yes.” Choutarou was firm about that. It wasn't often he put his foot down but this was one of those times. Shishido knew arguing would get him nowhere. He decided to not even waste his time trying.

Resting on the sofa, Shishido tuned out Shun and Choutarou. The two were at the keyboard, playing some melody that Shishido didn't recognize. It was relaxing even if every other note made his head scream. The fall had given him one killer headache and the painkillers he'd taken when they got home were taking their sweet time to kick in.

The music eventually stopped. By then, his headache had long since vanished. The sofa shifted and when Shishido opened his eyes, he found Choutarou curling up with him. “Shun's working on a project for school,” he explained, reading Shishido's mind.

“Going to tell me what you two were grinning about earlier?” Shishido hadn't forgotten about that.

“How's your head?” Choutarou dodged the question. It was frustrating but Shishido knew he'd find out eventually.

Shishido shifted, putting his arm around Choutarou. “I think I've got a nasty bump forming but that's about it.”

“Shun asked me something.” Choutarou rested his head on Shishido's shoulder. His hair tickled but Shishido tried to ignore the feeling. “He asked me how long I was going to be with you guys.”

The older guy tried to nonchalantly brush some of the ticklish hair away. “What'd you say?”

Choutarou shifted. The action completely ruined Shishido's efforts. “I told him I'd stay as long as you'd have me.”

Well that was truth. Shishido chuckled. “You're stuck here forever,” he answered. “Unless you decide to leave.” That was the only way Shishido could see their relationship ending, if Choutarou got sick of him.

“There's more. He asked, well, it's just...” Choutarou's voice was little more than a whisper at this point. “He said that if it was going to be a long time...he asked if it'd be okay if he called me Papa.”

Holy fucking shit. Shishido stopped breathing. “Seriously?” It was one thing for his son to accept Choutarou into their home. It was another thing entirely for his son to make the leap towards seeing the guy as a parental figure.

“I told him he could if he wanted to, that it was up to him.” Choutarou lifted his head. “It...are kids always so amazing?”

Shishido laughed. “I don't know. You're the one who works with them, not me.” He honestly was surprised about that though. It was crazy to see just how far things had come. And now, with the whole Megumi thing popping up, Shishido felt like this was a sign he'd made the right choices. “Still, my kid's pretty awesome.”

The younger man set his head back down on Shishido's shoulder. Hair went up Shishido's nose again, threatening to make him sneeze. “Can I ask you something?” He asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Figuring it was something innocent, Shishido nodded. He did not expect what Choutarou asked. “What the whole story with his mother? The way Shun talks, it sounds like she's dead...”

“That's because that's what I told him.” This really was not something he wanted to talk about. Unfortunately, Choutarou was becoming involved with the situation.

“Last night?”

Choutarou was confused and Shishido couldn't fault his boyfriend for that. Shooting a look at Shun's room, Shishido prayed his son would stay in there, that the boy wouldn't overhear what he was about to say. Shishido sighed. He really didn't want to talk about this but he realized he didn't really have a choice about it either. “I was at work that day,” he started. “She wrote a note and taped it to the door.”

He didn't have the note anymore. Years ago, he'd gotten pissed off and ripped it up. He almost wished he hadn't right now. “We...we didn't have the best relationship, especially after she got pregnant. I think I told that I'd never been married. I asked her a bunch of times. Her family kept pressuring her to do it too but she refused.”

It had been a constant point of tension in their relationship and it'd only gotten worse once Shun had actually been born. “But we got this place together and we lived as a little family for a few months after he was born.” He thought maybe having their own place would help but it'd only made the situation worse. “She just left. Walked out of here because we were holding her back from reaching her dreams.”

“How old was Shun?” Choutarou sounded almost afraid to ask.

“Four months old. You can probably guess why I've always told him she was dead.” He didn't want his son knowing the truth. Not yet anyway. Shishido had always decided that if his son wanted to know, he'd give the boy the full story when he was an adult and could emotionally handle it. “She might as well be.”

“Except she's not.”

The words sounded so final. Shishido knew they were true. “Yeah, except that. I never thought I'd see her again.”

Choutarou sat up. His eyes were full of worry. “What are you going to do now?”

“About Megumi?” Shishido knew that's what Choutarou was referring to. “I don't know. I want to keep her as far away from Shun as I can.” That was the best he could do.

~*~*~

Shishido slowed down to a jog as he reached his apartment building. A familiar sight was waiting out front and it wasn't exactly a pleasant one. He already knew what she was going to ask. It was the same question she'd asked countless times before. “Can we talk? Please?”

This wasn't going to end until they did. He wanted it to be over. He didn't want to talk to her. One of those needed to give for it to end. “There's a cafe a few blocks away.” He decided to give in and talk.

She actually looked surprised. He didn't blame her. It'd been nearly a month since she'd first reappeared and he'd turned down her request every time. He wasn't going to invite her into his home though. That was a place for him and his loved ones.

The cafe wasn't hard to find but then, Shishido had been there plenty of times over the years. Looking around, he decided it was probably the sort of place Choutarou would like. He should bring his boyfriend sometime. The guy's birthday was coming up and it needed to be special. They'd been together for awhile now and it'd been almost a year since he'd moved in.

It wasn't busy, something that could work out in his favor. Or against it. They took a table along the back wall and ordered drinks. That was all Shishido was going to order. No need to make this long or more drawn out than it needed to be. The only reason he'd even ordered a drink was so he didn't feel bad about taking one of the cafe's tables.

“I'm surprised you agreed.” Megumi was the first to speak.

“I want this over with,” Shishido answered, laying the truth out there. “It needs to stop.” Shun was starting to ask questions about who the strange lady was and why she kept trying to talk to him. Dealing with the situation was exhausting.

She smiled, taking a sip of her painfully pink drink. “I just want things to go back to the way they're supposed to be.”

Things were the way they were supposed to be. He didn't actually say that though. No need to fuel that fire even if it was true. “And how are things supposed to be? We were never a family. Seven years ago, it was Shun and me. And you. You weren't interested in us.”

“I was 20. I didn't know how to handle it.” At least this time she looked and sounded sad. “I've grown up. I'm not the same idiot I used to be.”

Could have fooled him. Only an idiot would think she could waltz back into a life she'd thrown away. “And life isn't the same as it used to be.”

She sighed. “I can see that. You used to have a heart.”

“Still do. Just, I don't care about you.” Shishido wasn't going to sugarcoat it. “I told Shun you died.”

That shocked her. He almost felt proud of himself. He decided to explain why. “I mean, who walks out on a baby? It's nicer than the truth. That his mother gave up and abandoned him.”

“So he doesn't know who I am.” She sounded distant. “Does he know my parents?”

Shishido shook his head. “I talked to them a little when he was a baby but I decided it would be better for him to not be around them. That way there wouldn't be any accidental slips. “They were upset but understood.”

Megumi became quiet, staring at her drink. This suited Shishido just fine. He was hoping it was finally sinking in. Legally, they didn't even need to have this discussion. Shun was his and even though they'd never been married, he had insisted when the boy was born that Shun be added to his family registry, not hers. He'd argued it would be easier for when they did get married. Except the whole marriage thing hadn't exactly panned out. That wasn't his fault. What it did mean was that he had custody of his son.

“You're not going to let me be a part of his life, are you?”

Hallelujah. She finally got it. “That's right.”

“And there's no chance with you?”

“Definitely not.” Choutarou had ruined him on relationships. If they ever broke up, Shishido had a hard time seeing how he could be with anyone. Choutarou was stupidly perfect and he'd end up comparing anyone to the guy. They'd all look horrible in comparison. It was a scary realization.

They finished their drinks in silence. She was the first to leave. It was disappointing how she did it. She just stood up and left. There was no push, no fight. She'd just given up. As much as he didn't want her around, he'd hoped she would fight. If...he hated himself for even having the thought but honestly, if she'd tried harder and pushed to have Shun. He didn't know. He'd just wanted to see some kind of fight in her and not that.

Despite everything, he was the first one home. Having dealt with Megumi for hopefully the last time, he had to admit that it did feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew there was a chance she'd come back but he knew he could handle the situation if it happened.

“We're home!” Two voices called out a little while later.

“How was school?” Shishido called back from where he was lounging on the floor, reading a tennis magazine. The floor shook a little as Shun ran over.

“Look!” He said, shoving something in Shishido's face. It was a piece of paper but that was about all he could tell.

“What is it?”

“My test!” Ow. Shishido wanted to hold his ears but resisted. “Look! I got an A.”

Shishido stared at his son, obviously surprised. “Really?” Math was not his son's best subject. In fact, it'd always been the boy's worst. “How?”

“Sense showed me how he does math,” Shun answered. He still referred to Choutarou by the title. They couldn't figure out if it was out of sheer habit or personal preference. Either way, it didn't make much of a difference. “His way made it really easy.”

“Geez Choutarou,” Shishido said as he sat up. “If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was your kid and not mine.”

“Dad.” Shun drew the word out. It would have been hilarious if it weren't for what the boy said next. “I'm both of yours.” He was completely serious about it. The words took Shishido's breath away. This was the first time he'd heard his son say something like that.

This was a day for celebrating. “Let's go out for dinner,” Shishido decided. “Wherever you guys want to go, my treat.”

Shun cheered. Choutarou shot him a questioning look. Shishido just smiled back and explained, “we're celebrating everything.”


End file.
